Keir Starmer slips further behind Boris Johnson as poll shows his popularity is WORSE then doomed Ed Miliband’s was

SIR Keir Starmer’s Downing Street dreams took another beating today as grim polling showed him slipping further behind Boris Johnson.

The Labour boss’s popularity rating has tanked to -26 – WORSE than predecessors Ed Miliband and Neil Kinnock’s -25 at the same point in their doomed leaderships.

In contrast then rising star Tony Blair boasted a +25 score in Opposition before storming to a landslide. 

Despite shaking up his inner circle of close aides and launching a PR blitz, Sir Keir‘s net approval dipped by 1.5 last month.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister’s ratings ticked up 2.5 to -11 in the Ipsos Mori survey.

A hefty “vaccine bounce” helped propel his popularity, with a whopping 87 per cent of Brits crediting the Government with a good jab rollout opposed to just 9 per cent not impressed.

More people than not (49 vs 40%) also think ministers are well handling the economy and keeping unemployment down. 

Billions have been splurged propping up jobs with the furlough scheme which is ending in September.

But failing to make good on his flagship “levelling up” promise is proving a chink in the PM’s armour.

Only 22 per cent think he’s doing a good job to wrestle down regional inequality while 55 per cent are unhappy. 

If an election were held tomorrow 41 per cent would vote Tory, 30 per cent Labour, 13 per cent, Greens 8 per cent and UKIP 1 per cent.

Ipsos Mori’s Gideon Skinner said: “The public’s scorecard on government delivery suggests the Conservatives’ lead is helped by positive ratings for their handling of the economy and unemployment during the pandemic (although less so among young people), and most strikingly for the vaccination programme, which gets high approval across the board. 

“Keir Starmer’s Labour party is struggling to make headway against this, with little sign of improvement this month.”